Bonding
by marycasa13
Summary: When Fin is temporarily transfered, John and Olivia become partners. How will their relationship with each other change? Posible romance, but I'm not sure yet.
1. Chapter 1

1"Alright everybody," Began the captain as he walked out of his office, but he was interrupted before he could finish by John, " Where's Fin?" Cragen sighed impatiently. " That's what I was getting to, Munch. Now if you would just let me finish..."

"Has anything happened to him?" Asked Olivia, a tinge of worry in her voice.

Cragen looked up at the ceiling momentarily, as if praying for patience.

"Let me finish!" He demanded. Elliot, John, and Olivia gave him their full attention.

"Good, now as you have noticed all the snow we have been getting lately has giving us a major lack in cases,"

"Tell me about it." Droned John, and Cragen sent him a glare before continuing, " So, it was requested that I "loan" Fin to Narcotics for a while, since drug crimes don't slow with the seasons, and he has experience within the squad."

" You transferred out my partner?!" Exclaimed John. If Cragen had any hair to pull in the first place, he would have yanked it all out by now.

" I said loan, as in borrow! That means temporary! Don't blow a gasket John, jeez," Cragen paused. " He will however, be gone for a three weeks at least, so I'm...rearranging you three a bit."

"What do you mean by rearranging everybody, Captain?" Asked Elliot, fiddling with a pen at his desk.

"Exactly what I said, detective. Now, god help me, I've decided that you will be my partner for these next couple weeks. Olivia, you're with John, because you are the only one out of all of us, sometimes Fin included, that can actually deal with him," At this John rolled his eyes and scoffed. Cragen ignored him, "Now I do realize we all know each other fairly well, but it is standard procedure that I instruct you to get to know your new partner. Preferably inside and out. Now I'm letting you all off duty right now, which is a few hours early." He turned to Elliot and instructed him to get his coat. The two of them headed for the door and were about to leave for their "bonding time" when Cragen turned back, looking pointedly at the two remaining detectives. "You two better be practically reading each other's minds by tomorrow. You should know by now that our job is to dangerous to be worked any other way."

Once Elliot and Cragen had left, John swivelled his chair around, turning to Olivia.

" So...dinner and mind reading at the diner around the corner?"

"Sure." Olivia laughed.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

1

"This is...weird." Stated Olivia. They were both sitting in a fairly empty corner of the crowded diner. John tilted his head and looked at her inquiringly. "Why?" He asked slowly.

"Well, the captain practically ordered us to get to know each other better, and now that we're both sitting here, we don't know what the hell would be a good question to ask the other."

John chuckled shortly, "Very true...in fact, I 'm so stumped on picking a question that I'll let you go first." He smiled mock charmingly, but Olivia could tell it was his way of hiding an evil grin. She sighed. "Okay then, lets start simple...where did you grow up?"

"Right here." He responded immediately.

"In this diner?" She asked sarcastically, " _Really_...now that's interesting."

"I meant New York City, Olivia. At least we know there's one thing we have in common now."

"What's that?"

" We're both smart asses." He replied, as if the answer was obvious.

"Gee, thanks." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Your welcome." Responded John with a smile. He then returned the question, "So, what about you? Where'd you grow up?"

"Same as you, New Yorker born and raised." She contemplated this for a second before announcing, " You know, both of our childhoods don't sound to interesting."

"Oh, trust me Benson, my child hood was all kinds of interesting." Said John dryly.

"If you mean dark, depressing, and somewhat secretive, than yeah...me too." Said Olivia, slight sadness in her voice. John studied her closely. He knew that she was a child of rape, but something else must have gone on in her child hood. Was she abused? God he hoped not.

"Hey, lets not get lost in bad childhood memories, that would make this evening depressing for both of us. So... tell me one thing about you that no on else knows. It doesn't have to be a deep dark secret. Maybe just something so random or unique that no one, not even Elliot, thought to ask you."

John's creative request helped cheer Olivia up a bit. She sat up straight in her chair and thought long and hard about her answer, smiling slightly. When she finally stated her answer, John laughed, because with all the thought she put into it, he thought her answer would be more thought provoking and elaborate then, "I'm allergic to peanuts."

He snorted at her mini-confession. "Well, Olivia. Have you every noticed how I'll chow down on any candy known to man, and yet I refuse anything remotely like a Reese's cup? I'm allergic too."

"Okay, something tells me Cragen will be less than thrilled when he finds out that all we realized from our "bonding" is that we're both Smart Asses who are allergic to peanuts." Joked Olivia.

"Definitely." Confirmed John. He did his signature "over the glasses look", and suggested, "Lets just keep talking then."

Olivia smiled at the request. Much to the annoyance of the late-shift waiters, they both stayed well into the night, chatting animatedly.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

1A/N: Finally another chapter! Sorry it's so short.

Despite being at the diner until almost one in the morning, Munch and Olivia both arrived at the precinct only a few minutes late, surprised to find that Elliot and Cragen hadn't arrived yet.

" Do you think they killed each other?" Questioned Munch as he and Olivia sat down at their desks. Olivia shook her head, " No, but if they really were with each other all night, I bet a couple swings were taken. " She joked.

"I bet you twenty bucks that Stabler will come in acting normal, and the Captain will look like he's just gotten back from a lengthy tour through hell." Announced Munch, causing Olivia to snort lightly, " That's awfully specific, but I know it's gonna be the other way around. Don knows how to torture someone, if he really needs to, and Elliot is quick to get in a bad mood too don't forget" She acted as she was really thinking about it for a moment, ". I could use some easy money, your on."

They shook hands and, since they barely had any paper work, sat back and waited for the pairs arrival. They didn't have to wait long.

Cragen walked in, followed by a fuming Elliot. " Cap, I understand you're my boss an all...but do you have to take charge of EVERYTHING?! It was _my_ couple hours off, and you drag me to this diner go knows where, AND-

Before they could hear him finish , Cragen closed his office door behind him and Elliot and shut the blinds. There was an awkward silence over the whole precinct until,

" Hand it over Munchkin," stated Olivia with her palm out, grinning triumphantly.

Munch sighed and tossed his twenty dollars onto Olivia's desk moodily.

"I knew when I told you my mother used to call me that when I was little that you would use it against me!" He said in his "conspiracy rant" voice.

Olivia smirked, " Aww, Poor Munchkin," she cooed, "Want me to go get the Wizard of Oz to come make you feel better?"

"Shut up Liv" Snapped Munch jokingly .

Both of them started to work on their paperwork, waiting for Elliot and Cragen to finish their shouting match. Or for a call, whichever came first.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

1Bonding

Elliot and Cragen came out of the office much calmer than when they had entered, though they were still shooting each other death glares.

" John, let me switch with you." Begged Elliot, but before Munch could do more than open his mouth to answer, Cragen butted in, " Oh, no way. I hear enough conspiracy theories from him as it is. I don't need to be stuck in a squad car with him!" He was joking, for the most part, but there was an edge in his voice that told Munch he was serious.

"Okay, that's not fair!" Exclaimed Munch, " Liv, how many times did I start talking about conspiracies last night?"

Olivia looked at him thoughtfully, counting in her head, before directing her answer towards the captain. "Only about three times." She assured him.

"Yeah," scoffed Elliot, "but within how many hours?"

By this point, Munch was beginning to think they forgot he was here. Rolling his eyes and muttering something inaudible, he turned towards the phone and practically prayed for a call to come in.

Meanwhile, Olivia was trying to answer Elliot's question, "What time did we leave?"

"Around 7."

" Okay then. Give him a break. It was _three_ times in _six_ hours!

"What were you two doing for six hours?" Asked Cragen curiously.

"...Eating dinner and talking!" Supplied Munch in a tone that implied he was fed up with being ignored.

"Yeah, " Agreed Olivia, " I bet all you guys did was complain and argue." Munch grinned.

Elliot glared, and was about to ask what was so funny, when the phone rang. Munch picked it up quickly.

"Munch. Special Victims Unit." He listened for a moment, before saying "okay," and hanging up.

" Olivia and I will take this one guys. It looks like an open/shut case. Wife is dead, husband was found bloody at the scene." he tossed Olivia her coat, and right before they were out the door, turned around to say, " besides, putting you two in a confined space isn't really a good idea. Wouldn't want you two killing each other."

He was met with two sarcastic smiles.


	5. Chapter 5

Bonding

Chapter 5

Munch and Olivia were driving back from the crime scene when the sound of a stomach grumbling assaulted their ears. From his position in the drivers seat, Munch turned his head slightly to face Olivia and smirked.

"You hungry?" He asked, with faux-curiosity. Olivia grinned.

"I'm starving,"she replied.

"Okay then, what do you say to grabbing ourselves something at the café around the corner?"

She nodded her agreement, and he quickly made a right turn, parking in the closest available space.

Once they were seated and had already ordered, they silently stared at each other for a moment, awkwardly, until Olivia spoke up,

"So..." She began, " what do you say to twenty questions, round two?"

"Okay." Munch agreed, albeit hesitantly, " You start."

"Other than right here, where could you see yourself living?"

Munch thought for a moment, before responding,

"Well, I can sort of see myself back in Baltimore...except for the fact that it holds a lot of bad memories for me. Other than that, I'd probably live somewhere that actually has trees. You?"

"Yeah...somewhere quiet."

After a short pause, Munch broke the silence.

"What's your favorite color?"

As the waiter carrying their food approached the table, she quickly leaned over and slapped him lightly on the arm.

"Is that the best you can come up with?" She laughed.

"Ow! Hey!...and maybe. I'm not good at this kinda thing."

"You're a detective...and you aren't good at asking questions. That's great." She drawled sarcastically.

"Okay, that's it, you're getting snarky. It's a sign you've been spending too much of your time around me." Munch smirked.

"I could never spend too much time around you, John." It was out of her mouth before she could think, and surprisingly, the sentimental statement didn't shake them at all. After spending a few minutes silently pondering the implications of her confession, Olivia suddenly spoke up.

"Light blue."

"Orange " He responded casually. When she gave him a weird look, he shrugged.

"What? I thought we were naming random colors!" He chuckled when she gave him an extremely sarcastic and withering look.

"Light blue, John. That's my favorite color."

"Oh." He stated, when realization struck him. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Olivia over his glasses, smirking.

"Nice timing, Liv. Totally understood what you were talking about there."

She slapped him on the shoulder again.

"Ow! Jeez woman, violent much?"

In response, she just laughed.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

"Where _are _they?" Asked Elliot, slightly frustrated. He and the captain were sitting in the squad room, doing nothing more than looking around idly and twiddling their thumbs.

Cragen looked up, "who?"

"The Olsen twins, Cap. I've got a date with them." He snapped, then rolled his eyes,

" Munch and Olivia. Where the hell are they?"

"Watch your attitude, detective. I may be your partner right now, but I'm still your boss." Scolded Cragen half-heartedly, then added, "and I don't know where they are. Maybe they stopped to grab some lunch?"

"Good,"said Elliot, "I hope they bring something back, I'm starving."

Cragen only sighed in response, and the two awkward partners continued to sit silently, doing nothing.

A few minutes later, Munch and Olivia came strolling in.

"Hey guys, why the long faces?" Commented Munch, noticing Cragen and Elliot's grumpy, and slightly spaced out, demeanor. He only got s couple of glares in return.

"What?" He asked, faking innocence.

"Munch, we've been sitting around for almost an hour, doing absolutely nothing. The phone hasn't rung once. Meanwhile, you and Olivia are off somewhere acting all buddy-buddy. I suggest you stay on our good sides right now, before one of us has to kill you." Cragen said, though his threat was a little too tired sounding to pack much of a punch.

Munch's eyebrows twitched slightly st this response. Olivia smirked.

"Partnering yourself with Elliot was a bad idea cap," she began. Munch finished her thought off with, "yeah, you're adopting each others negative personality traits. Cragen is developing a need for anger management classes, and Elliot- He was interrupted by two identical glares and an oddly familiar, harmonious,

"Shut up, John!"

"Wow, all these years and you can still do that!?" Asked Munch, "neat," he commented, "maybe you two would make good partners after all."

"Yeah, right. I'm not Elliot's type." Commented Cragen, throwing a reproachful look Elliot's way.

"Seriously Munch, can I trade with you?" Asked Elliot desperately.

"I don't know Liv, I think I'm beginning to like this switch, aren't you?" Asked Munch, purposefully teasing the other two.

"Yeah," agreed Olivia coyly. "I could get used to being John's partner." They both grinned at Elliot, who shot them both a death glare.

Munch and Olivia laughed.

The truth was, they decided silently, they really could get used to this.

TBC?


End file.
